


I'll Be There

by ladyc2



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-31 13:06:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12133128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyc2/pseuds/ladyc2
Summary: Jun's been dumped again. Aiba decides to cheer him up





	I'll Be There

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Arashi exchange. According to google, Kappabashi Street is the place to go in Tokyo for tableware and cooking things.

"About time you showed up," Jun muttered as he brushed past Aiba on his way out the door of the green room. 

Aiba's bag slid off his shoulder and landed on the couch with a soft thud, as he stared at the door, still swinging shut. He frowned, turning towards the other members in confusion. _Why would Jun be mad at him?_ Yes, he was last to arrive, but that was the usual order of things, what with having to come from the Shimura Dobutsen set, and he wasn't any later than usual. He glanced up at the clock on the wall of the green room just to be sure.

From across the room, Sho was grimacing awkwardly and Aiba hoped it was due to Jun's dramatic exit rather than some faux pas Aiba had committed without even realising it. A gentle hand on his shoulder made him turn his head. Nino stood there, a reassuring smile on his face.

"Don't worry, it's not personal," he said. "He was dumped last night."

_Oh!_ Aiba's heart went out to the group's youngest member, completely forgiving him for the earlier barb. Aiba couldn't understand why Jun seemed to have such bad luck at love. He was kind, funny, loyal, hard-working - all things that would make him an ideal partner.

"We should just give him some space," Sho suggested. Nino and Ohno nodded agreement.

That was probably the smart thing to do. Jun tended to want to deal with things on his own, but that never seemed quite right to Aiba. What was the point in having such a close knit group if they couldn't rely on each in times of need? And when was there more need for friends than when you were heartbroken.

As Aiba went off to makeup, he resolved to do something for Jun, to help him get past his latest relationship. Now he just had to think of what.

\---

Just before they went out on set, Aiba psyched himself up. They all had days when, for a variety of reasons, they weren't on the ball. When this happened the rest of Arashi would step up to the plate and cover for them. The trick was to draw attention away from them, but not so much attention that it was obvious to the audience they were doing it. It was a fine line to walk, but they had done it numerous times, generally successfully.

Not that Jun seemed to need it much. In fact, he doubted anyone not as close to Jun as Arashi were would even be able to tell that anything was wrong at all. It was times like these that reminded Aiba what a good actor Jun could be. It just made Aiba more determined to help Jun through his pain.

"Good job today," Aiba addressed Jun as they wrapped filming. 

"You too," Jun replied. He paused for a moment. "Sorry about earlier. I just-." 

"Its fine," Aiba assured, interrupting Jun before he could explain further. There was still lots of staff milling about and Aiba didn't want any of them overhearing and starting rumours.

"So we're good?" Jun asked.

Aiba gave his brightest smile. "We're good."

Jun moved away, heading back towards the green room to collect his things. As he got halfway across the set, a thought struck Aiba and he called out, "Jun!"

Jun stopped and turned back and Aiba hurried to catch up. "Want to go surfing tomorrow?"

Jun's eyebrow rose. "Surfing?"

"It'll be fun." _And distracting_ , Aiba added mentally. "I'll text you the details; we can meet first thing." He knew neither of them had anything on the next morning.

Jun considered for a moment before nodding briefly and heading off.

\---

The next morning, Aiba got to the beach early. He grabbed his board out of the back of his car and spent the next few minutes giving it another coat of wax. He didn't get to go surfing often but ever since trying it in Hawaii, he'd developed an interest - it was just so much fun. His thoughts drifted to Hawaii and he wondered if Jun would bring the board Aiba had given him for his birthday back then. The thought of Jun surfing on a board with his own face (and Aiba's over his shoulder) staring back up at him made Aiba giggle. And maybe it would cheer Jun up too. 

The sound of a car pulling up caught Aiba's attention, but when he looked up it wasn't Jun's car, so he went back to checking over his board. He wasn't worried about being seen; most surfers were much more interested in the waves than idols and it was too early in the morning for fans to be coming down to the beach.

The sound of someone clearing their throat, quite close, made him look up in surprise. Nishikido Ryo stood there, a board in hand.

"Ryo-chan," Aiba exclaimed in surprise, "what are you doing here?"

"Jun said that you wanted a surfing partner." Ryo answered like he was suddenly unsure himself. "He didn't tell you I was coming?"

Aiba smiled at his fellow idol, but inside he deflated. Jun had bailed on him. He thought it had been such a good idea. The fresh air, the sand between your toes, the water - you couldn't help but feel invigorated. What he should have done was told Jun he was picking him up, instead of just letting him know the time and location; then he couldn't have backed out like this.

Aiba and Ryo spent the next few hours out in the waves. Aiba wiped out a bit more than usual at first, his mind more on Jun than the surf, but soon he settled into the rhythm and started enjoying himself. Ryo was a great surfing partner and clearly more practised than Aiba was, but he never made fun and even gave a few helpful tips. 

"Ah, it's been too long. That was refreshing," Ryo said as they collapsed on the beach later that morning. 

Aiba agreed. "It was. We should do this more often." 

"But you'd rather a different partner?" There was no accusation in Ryo's tone but Aiba felt the sting of the words anyway.

"Today was supposed to be for Jun," Aiba admitted, emphasising the 'today' so Ryo knew that his earlier words weren't fake, "to cheer him up."

Ryo snorted. "You should have just invited him shopping."

"Maybe," Aiba agreed.

\---

Aiba mulled over Ryo's words as he went about the rest of his day. He had thought of shopping first, back in the green room yesterday - they often went together and while they both had very different tastes, it somehow seemed to work and they always had fun. But then Aiba remembered that Jun's boyfriend had been a designer, or stylist, or something. Definitely something to do with fashion and Aiba thought shopping would just remind him of what he lost.

At their next meeting, Aiba made sure not to show Jun that he was upset. After all, the plan had been to cheer Jun up, and while it had failed, making Jun feel bad about that would be counterproductive to what Aiba was trying to achieve. So he set to avoiding any of Jun's attempts to apologise, sidestepping him when it looked like he was going to speak, and instead talking loudly about how much fun he had surfing with Ryo - he didn't even need to exaggerate much for that.

Nino gave him a few funny 'you're being weird' looks, but Aiba was used to them by now.

\----

A week later, and Aiba decided to revise his decision to avoid shopping. Especially when he heard Sho and Ohno had managed to convince Jun to go for a meal with them and Nino had gotten him to spend a night playing computer games. _Why wasn't his invitation good enough?_ Aiba felt a twinge of some emotion he couldn't quite place. He just wanted to help too.

Then it struck him - they didn't have to go shopping for clothes. 

They were eating bentos on a lunch break backstage, so Aiba sidled over to where Jun was sitting, a little apart from the others, seemingly lost in his own thoughts, his chopsticks dangling above the food.

"Jun, I need your help."

Jun looked up. "With what?"

"I need some new dinnerware." 

"Eh?" Jun returned to contemplating his bento. "So go buy some."

"No," Aiba protested. He leaned into Jun's space so he was forced to look up at him again and added a pout for effect. Jun could very rarely resist his pouts. "It can't just be any old plates. I want something fancy, you know, for when important guests come over." 

"You're having important guests over?"

"Of course not," Aiba countered. "I couldn't possibly without decent plates."

Jun stared at Aiba, considering, and Aiba tried to look like plates was the most important concern for him right now.

"All right," he sighed at last.

"Great." Aiba tried not to get too giddy, but he shot Sho, Ohno and Nino a smug grin. _See, he could help too_. They looked at him, then at each other, shrugging in confusion.

\---

They met in Kappabashi Street a few days later, when they both had some free time in their respective schedules. They took their time browsing the stores; Jun even bought some cooking equipment for his own kitchen; looking for the perfect set of plates. While they'd been shopping together many times, this time somehow it felt different to Aiba. Maybe because shopping for dinnerware seemed like such a couple-y thing to do. It was almost like they were on a date. 

Jun held up a tea set with an elaborate flower design. Aiba leaned in close to get a better look at the intricate blossoms, his face almost brushing Jun's in the process. His earlier thoughts made him much more aware of the lack of space between them and how he could hear Jun's breath next to his ear, and smell Jun's scent. It took him a moment to focus on what he was supposed to be looking at.

"That looks like something off the Noble Detective set."

"Well, you can't get much fancier than that," Jun said.

Aiba shook his head. "Too much. I'd always be afraid of breaking it." Despite their beauty, he'd spent many an hour of drama filming worried about accidentally dropping the teacups whenever he had to drink in a scene. 

"So you want fancy, but not too fancy?" Jun clarified.

"Exactly." 

"Should be no problem then." The words were sarcastic but the tone was light and vaguely amused and as Jun walked off to inspect some plates further down the aisle, Aiba allowed himself a grin of victory. It was working.

\----

The packages stood on Aiba's kitchen table, Aiba's sets on one end and a smaller stack of Jun's purchases at the other. The shopping had taken all afternoon, so Aiba had invited Jun back to his place to eat, picking up take-out on the way. Now they sat on Aiba's couch, eating and drinking beer while they watched variety programmes on the television. After the meal, Aiba cleared away the plates, refusing Jun's attempts to help; insisting he'd clean up properly later. 

"Thanks for the help today," Aiba said as he handed Jun a beer and re-joined him on the couch. 

"I had fun." Jun sounded a little surprised at his admission.

"I'm glad." Aiba smiled warmly. It was nice to see Jun smiling and relaxed again. 

"And now you've done your duty," Jun teased lightly.

"What?"

"This." Jun indicated the boxes on the table with a wave of his hand. "Are you going to say it _wasn't_ just to cheer me up?"

"It wasn't," Aiba lied, his fingers crossed behind his back. "Well not completely," he amended when Jun just stared at him unblinking.

Jun cleared his throat, and his eyes returned to stare fixedly at the TV. "Well, I'm fine now."

Aiba didn't believe him for a moment. "Are you sure?"

Jun shrugged. "Mostly. I guess I just need to come to terms with the fact that love just isn't on the cards for me."

"Don't say that," Aiba scolded. "You'd make a great boyfriend."

"I work too much." Jun disagreed. "And they always say they understand about the tabloids and the rumours - but they never really do."

"Well, maybe you need to look closer to home."

"You mean other actors?" Jun shook his head. "I've tried that too - then we _both_ just have too much work and we never see each other."

"Then you need someone who's on pretty much the same schedule as you."

Jun turned to look at him then, puzzled. "You realise that just leaves Arashi?"

"Are we really that bad an option?" It was meant to be a light-hearted joke but it came out sounding much more serious. He met Jun's eyes and something between them shifted. And then Jun leaned in and kissed him, his lips warm against Aiba's and his tongue asking for entrance. Aiba granted it, his hand coming up to grip Jun's shoulder and steady them both as the kiss deepened. 

Jun tasted like beer and curry - not that Aiba minded in the slightest, since Jun was one of the best kissers he'd ever experienced. He pressed in closer, just as Jun tried to do the same and they both toppled sideways until they hit the back of the couch.

Aiba felt some vibrations against his leg and it took him a moment to realise that his phone was buzzing. He tried to ignore it, but as close as they were, Jun must have felt it too and he pulled away just as it stilled. Aiba reached into his pocket and pulled it out, throwing it on the coffee table without even looking at it and leaned in to resume the kiss. Jun, however, pulled back, his face a mixture of confusion and dawning horror.

"I'm so sorry," he blurted.

"Sorry?" Aiba asked, "What-?"

But Jun went on. "I shouldn't have done that. I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean-" And he scrambled off the couch and backed towards the door, apologising the whole way.

"No wait!" Aiba called, jumping up to chase Jun. His phone on the table started vibrating again and in the split second that Aiba took to turn his head and look at it, Jun was out the door. Aiba looked between the now open door and his phone, undecided. Jun was upset and Aiba was the reason but whoever was on the phone was clearly trying to get hold of him. _What if it was an emergency?_

He let out a frustrated cry and dived for his phone, getting to it just in time.

"What took you so long?" Nino's voice filtered in from the other end.

"What's wrong?" Aiba demanded.

"Nothing." Nino sounded surprised at Aiba's curt tone. "I just wanted to find out how your date with Jun went." 

The word _date_ stung more than it should, what with Aiba's own thoughts earlier in the day and their make-out session just moments ago. And now he'd lost his chance to chase Jun down and sort things out. It was all too much. Aiba's breath hitched

"Terrible," he wailed.

"Woah," Nino said in surprise, and then followed in a much more soothing tone. "Hey calm down. Tell me what happened."

So Aiba tried to explain, but his mind kept getting stuck on the look of horror on Jun's face when the kiss had broken. _What had he done?_

\---

The next day, Aiba didn't need to be at work until the afternoon, which was fine by him as he planned to just spend the morning in bed, hugging his pillow and trying to figure out what he could do about Jun. He was upset over his breakup - and maybe a little drunk; Aiba couldn't quite remember how many beers they'd each had but there had been a fair few empty bottles when he'd finally gotten around to cleaning up. It was only natural that he'd seek out some affection, and Aiba just happened to be the one with Jun in his time of need. Now if only he could convince his heart of the truth of the matter.

Should he confront Jun, or give him some space? The fact that Arashi wouldn't have any group work for the next few days was almost enough to convince him to put it off - maybe it was a sign. Or maybe it was just cowardice talking. They needed to clear the air, if only for their group's sake, but Aiba worried that pushing Jun too soon might backfire and then the whole friendship might be on the line, let alone anything else.

He hadn't come to any conclusions when his phone beeped with an incoming text. He picked it up wondering who would be contacting him at such an early hour. It turned out to be Ryo, asking if he wanted to go surfing again. Aiba wrote out a quick declination but as his thumb hovered over the send button he hesitated. Maybe some fresh air would clear his head. He quickly deleted the words and rewrote the message to say he was on his way. He hit the send button before he could change his mind again.

When he reached the beach, he nodded a quick greeting to Ryo and busied himself with pulling out his surfboard, not quite ready to put on a brave face just yet. He knew it wasn't really fair to Ryo, but he couldn't quite pull up his usual enthusiasm. For his part, Ryo didn't seem to mind, leading the way quietly onto the beach and into the water. It was only once they'd gotten out past the breakers that Ryo paddled in close enough that they could talk, their legs brushing against each other occasionally as they bobbed in the water.

"Are you okay?" Ryo shifted around on his board and looked uncomfortable, like he didn't really didn't want to be broaching the subject.

"I'm okay." Aiba lied. "Why do you ask?"

Ryo shrugged. "Because Nino and Jun both called me up to ask if I'd go surfing with you again. It seemed like they thought you might be upset about something."

"Oh you know those two worrywarts." Aiba deflected the query. "If I fail to smile once, they think the world's ending." He forced a grin, hoping Ryo would buy it but inside he was a little annoyed. It figured that Nino would meddle and come up with just such a plan to stop him from sulking at home alone. And as for Jun…

Wait! His brain pulled him up short. _Jun had asked after him?_ Wasn't Jun mad at him? Why would he be checking up on him? It didn't make sense. Unless... 

Aiba tilted his head towards the waves. "Um, you know, I think this swell is a little too big for my level. I might just head back in."

Ryo looked at the fairly small waves crashing against the beach, his lips pursed in thought. "Yeah, sure," he finally said. He clearly wasn't following along but Aiba was glad he let it go, rather than insisting Aiba explain the situation. He was also sharp enough to realise Aiba didn't want company, stating that he'd stay out and try to catch a few of the 'big' waves. Aiba made a vow to invite him out to dinner when this was all sorted, as a thank you.

He made it back to shore in record time, grabbing his gear and heading for the car. When he was finally within its confines he dialled Jun's number. It picked up on the second ring.

"Hello," came a very wary answer.

"You left your shopping at my place last night." Aiba said. "You should come and get it."

There was a lengthy pause on the other end of the line, and then. "I'll send someone around." 

"Nope." Aiba replied. Jun wasn't getting out of it that easy. "I'll only give it back to you." 

Jun sounded surprised at Aiba's forcefulness. "Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't."

"Okay." Jun sounded defeated, like he was agreeing to face the firing squad.

"My place, in an hour," Aiba directed and then hung up the phone before Jun could object further.  
\---

Jun stared down at the cup of tea in his hand. Aiba had pressed one into his hands almost from the moment he arrived, so he couldn't just grab his things and leave before Aiba had a chance to speak.

"Isn't this one of the cups we bought yesterday?"

Aiba nodded. 

"What happened to wanting them for important guests?"

"Who's more important than you?" Aiba replied.

Jun laughed softly, "Never change Aiba-chan."

"I mean it," Aiba insisted.

"Aiba," Jun started.

"No wait," Aiba pleaded, "hear me out first."

Jun shut his mouth and after a moment, nodded his head in assent.

For his part, Aiba took a deep breath, mentally reviewing what he'd planned to say.  
"What happened the other day -" 

"I'm sorry," Jun interrupted.

Aiba gave him a stern look. "This is my turn to apologise. I knew what was happening wasn't what you really wanted. That you were just sad and confused. I should have stopped it right away." He held up a hand when he saw that Jun looked like he was about to protest. "But I didn't. Because the truth is," and here was the tough part, he swallowed hard. "I wanted it. I liked it." I like you, he left unsaid for the moment.

Aiba looked away for a second, to steady his nerves before he faced Jun again, but when he turned back Jun just looked confused, 

"You're not mad at me for kissing you?"

"No. Why would I be mad?" 

"Because," he trailed off.

Aiba sat down next to Jun; they were in almost identical positions to where they were just last night. He softened his voice, hoping that Jun would be truthful with him. "Why did you kiss me?"

Jun turned away from Aiba and contemplated his knees. "I knew you were just trying to cheer me up, but I had fun. And then I realised that I always have fun with you. I mean I do with the others as well, but it's different, you know?" 

Aiba stayed silent, letting Jun sort out his feelings.

"And then we were talking about who would be an ideal partner, and there you were and you fit all the criteria," Jun smiled softly at that. "And then I realised 'I like you'. So I kissed you."

Aiba grabbed Jun's hand from where it was balled up in a fist next to his leg, stroking it gently until it relaxed and opened up and then he curled his own fingers around it. "I like you too," he said.

Jun looked at their hands intertwined and then up into Aiba's eyes. Much like the first time he leaned in and pressed his lips against Aiba's. This time Aiba took control of the kiss his tongue swirling around Jun's. No curry and beer this time, but Aiba wanted to taste more of Jun. He left the kiss and started to mouth along Jun's jawline and down to his neck. Jun's free hand moved to the top of Aiba's jeans, resting there only a moment before moving up and under his t-shirt. Every time Jun's fingers made fleeting contact with his skin, Aiba felt tingles shooting through his body. He pulled back, his eyes meeting Jun's - this time there was no hesitation, no look of horror, just certainty and they both almost unconsciously agreed to the next step. Standing up, Aiba led Jun to his bedroom, their hands still entwined.

They didn't make it far into the bedroom, before they let passion take over once again, the kisses rougher and more needy, pausing only to lose shirts. Aiba pushed Jun down onto the bed, covering him with his own body. His hands roamed all over, and his mouth followed, exploring every inch of Jun's body that he could reach. Jun's hands settled on Aiba's ass, squeezing and trying to press him ever closer, groaning at the friction created between them. Aiba shifted downwards, until he his face was level with the hem of Jun's pants, undoing the button and zip and pulling them and his boxers down. He swiftly removed his own jeans and underwear as well, before climbing back on top of Jun. 

They both groaned as their cocks rubbed against each other. Aiba returned to Jun's neck where he found if he kissed and sucked on just the right spot it caused him to squirm delightfully, which felt even better now they were both naked. Jun had got a hand between them and was stroking skilfully. Aiba brushed his fingers over Jun's nipple, flicking and pinching and making Jun gasp.

"Do you have-?" Jun panted, his attempt at a question aborted when Aiba kissed him again, humming into his mouth. He reached out for his bedside table, trying to open the drawer and grab the lube and a condom without looking. It took a bit of fumbling, but he managed in the end and he pulled away to show his prizes. Jun just pulled him back down. "Please Masaki," he whispered into Aiba's ear.

Aiba wasted no more time, pouring some lube onto his fingers, he kissed Jun fiercely as he found Jun's entrance and pushed a finger in as gently as he could. He was hot and tight around Aiba's finger at first but then his head rolled back and his eyes closed and Aiba could feel him relaxing, enough to insert another finger and then eventually a third. 

Aiba's other hand came up to pump Jun's cock as he prepared him and soon Jun was breathless, and begging for more. Aiba pulled his fingers out, and prepared himself - Jun had opened his eyes and was now watching hungrily, which Aiba found was even more of a turn on.

He locked eyes with Jun. "Ready?" he asked, and when Jun nodded, he pushed in. Once his cock was fully enveloped, he paused so they could both gain a moment of control. Jun's hands let go of the firm grip on the sheets they had while Aiba entered him and moved to roam around Aiba's back and further down, squeezing Aiba's ass. Aiba took it as his cue and began to thrust slowly at first but then picking up pace, Jun rocking his hips to match his pace. Jun's moans started building in intensity, and when Aiba shifted, it changed the angle just enough to hit a spot that had Jun crying out. He grabbed Jun's cock and started pumping it in time with his thrusts. Jun came with a loud cry, and Aiba let himself go too, falling over the edge into bliss.

As they both came down from their high, Aiba thought this must be the best feeling ever. He hoped Jun felt so too. Jun who was now stroking his face gently. Aiba opened his eyes, meeting Jun's as Jun continued his caress.

"I love you," he said. "You make me happy."

Aiba felt utter contentment flowing through him.

"I love you too."


End file.
